Podcast Mini-Series:
The Cocoa Chronicals
The original inspiration for this page was my master’s collimating project; a place for my work to live. For my program, I scripted and produced a podcast mini-series on the cocoa industry in Ghana. Below are those episodes! You will also find an array of photographs I took while on the trip; this includes the Kukum National Forest, the Cape Coast Castle, and the Kwame Nkrumah National Memorial Park.
For the resources/citations for each episode, please see HERE. For the transcriptions of each episode, and their links, see below.
As the first episode of the series, I wanted to take the time to outline the structure of the Ghanaian cocoa industry, the economics of the cocoa industry and broader agricultural sector, and briefly set up the following episodes by highlighting the relationship between the industry and the workers.
In the second episode of the series, we dive into cocoa smuggling within the Ghanaian cocoa industry. Here go even further into the micro and macroeconomics of Ghanaian cocoa, and learn why so many farmers decide to participate in this illegal, and sometimes dangerous business.
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In the final episode of the series, we learn about the growth of illegal mining (galamsey) found within the northern parts of the country. We discuss both the generational implications that galamsey has for the cocoa farmers selling off their land, as well as the health problems associated with the practice that affect the Ghanaian people as a whole.